Detroit Lions Need to Let Go of the Past and Focus on the Future in 2010

It has been over for almost two years. At some point we need to get off the couch, put down the ice cream and quit feeding our emotions. The guy wasn’t a knight in shining armor, as was advertised. He was supposed to take us to the next level. Instead he used us and left us to wallow in our misery.

Matt Millen just wasn’t that into us.

But now, its time to move on.

It’s time we take off our sweats and start looking like someone who has a purpose. The only uses of the past is to remember good times and learn from failures. Well, our recent past has only left us with one option.

What I mean by that is to quit living in the past.

It’s true. The Detroit Lions are not a good football team. It’s also true they’re losing at an historic pace. What is also true, however is there is nothing any one can do about it. At least not right now.

Matt Millen left this team in terrible shape and to expect a brand new staff to fix it overnight is—to put it plainly—stupid. The roster is the equivolent of a huge practice squad. It’s the place players go to get on the field. It’s a reason all these players were available in free agency and on waivers. The last time I checked, waived was another word for cut and claiming players off cutters just doesn’t sound right.

The new regime needs time. If I understand the rules correctly, each team gets a max of ten players per draft. We all know, ten players will not improve this team enough to satisfy our expectations. Admit it, even if this team won six games this season, fans would've been mad about the other three that could have gotten us in the playoffs.

The 2009 draft class turned out to be pretty solid. The first overall pick, Matthew Stafford, turned out to be better than advertised. The unwanted first round pick, Brandon Pettigrew, drew some praise as the season progressed before his injury.

Second round stud Louis Delmas is a monster and seems to be the anchor of the defense for the future along with third round pick DeAndre Levy, who is making quite a name with his opportunity. Sammie Hill, a fourth round selection from a D-III school is a starter who playing well after being considered a prospect.

Aaron Brown, drafted in the sixth round, seem to be solid when he is not making mistakes and Zack Follet is a heatseeking, kickoff missile who destroys returners. The jury is still out on Derrick Williams, Dan Gerberry and Dan Gronkowski. Williams doesn’t do the one thing he was brought to do well, but the special teams unit as a whole has been unimpressive. How much of that is his fault? I’m not sure.

So, Lion’s fans, let us take the first step towards moving forward. Matt Millen is gone and will not be missed. In order to move on, we have to forget the damage he caused. We know the team is not good, but instead lets look at what they do right (quit laughing).

From here on out, we should turn our attention to the youngsters, at least the healthy ones. We have one more game. Considering the turnover about to take place, this is identical to the last preseason game. We know who will be here long term and who is just auditioning. Is there a hidden gem? I honestly don’t know, but there’s nothing wrong with a treasure hunt.

Basically, the constant mentioning of losing is not helping anyone. Its not helping the coaches, the players or our own psyche. It’s nothing but a constant reminder of the Millen Era. We knew the damage was long term, and we still gripe about it. This is 2010, a whole new decade. No reason to worry about the old one.

We’re showing the league that we are finally over Millen, because he was over us in 2002. It’s about time we catch up.